


Bound to Love

by taeminki



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2018-10-09 11:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 7,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10411248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeminki/pseuds/taeminki
Summary: There are 100 different ways to say 'I love you'.[ taken from a tumblr thing ]





	1. Jeonghan/Mingyu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pull over. Let me drive for a while.

Ever since he'd learned to drive, Jeonghan was addicted to the road. When he was happy, he drove. When he was upset, he drove. When he was stressed, he drove. When he was depressed, he drove. Driving was very therapeutic; and he could go anywhere with his car and some money for gas. He could escape his troubles; he could drive to another county, another damn country if he so pleased. Driving was a getaway.

Now, Jeonghan never really _got away_. Often time, he wasn't even alone when he was driving. Someone would spot him picking up his keys, and they would ask to tag along. Jeonghan never had an idea to reject them-- no urge to say _leave me the hell alone_. He was happy for some company on a drive-- someone to put on some music and roll down the windows. He was focused on the road; he liked that someone else was there to control the less important things.

Mingyu was often the one to go on these drives with Jeonghan-- _especially_  at night. Anyone who knew Mingyu would know that he loved to drive just as much as Jeonghan did-- for a different reason. He wasn't addicted to driving; he simply enjoyed the act. He didn't drive when he was upset, when he was stressed, when he was depressed; he didn't trust himself behind the wheel when he was emotional. But he did like to sit behind the wheel and act like an adult; he liked to drive around a view the beauty. He didn't pay as much attention to the road as he should, but he was safe about driving despite.

So, Mingyu and Jeonghan drove around a lot. They drove around together a lot. Jeonghan dragged Mingyu out at midnight-- no words spoken, no questions asked. Mingyu threw on his shoes while Jeonghan searched for his keys. Mingyu was silent when they hopped in the car. Jeonghan was quiet. His expression was blank and he didn't look in the mood to talk. Jeonghan started the car; Mingyu reached to turn the radio down, switch the station to some music they would know. Jeonghan began to drive; Mingyu rolled the window down. Spring air flooded into the car, brushing through Mingyu's hair and Jeonghan's battered mood. It took twenty minutes driving around before Jeonghan said anything.

"Thank you for coming with me."

Mingyu just hummed at him, a nod in his response. Silence followed for a long time-- another twenty minutes, closing in on half an hour. Jeonghan took a sudden turn into a fast food place-- some place Mingyu had never even heard of. Jeonghan reached into his pocket for his wallet as they pulled up to the menu, and he looked at Mingyu, "You want something?" and Mingyu shook his head. Jeonghan leaned forward and ordered something small-- something he shared with Mingyu on their next streak of driving-- an hour of eating and driving around, with only music playing to fill the silence. Mingyu studied Jeonghan closely in that hour. Jeonghan's mood seemed to lift with every bite he took and every beat that played-- every mile that passed and every street lamp they drove under. What he'd been upset about in the first place, Mingyu had no idea; but it must have been pretty serious if Jeonghan was still driving around at half past one o'clock, yawning every couple minutes, leaning his head back against his seat at every red light.

"Hyung," Mingyu said gently, catching Jeonghan's sleepy attention. The two were pretty far from the dorm. Mingyu could tell that Jeonghan wasn't ready to go back, but he was _exhausted_ , so-- "Pull over. Let me drive for a while."

Jeonghan did as Mingyu said. They switched spots-- with Mingyu gently bumping Jeonghan's hand as they passed each other in front of the car. He squeezed Jeonghan's fingers-- any form of comfort he could give-- and they separated again half a second later; and Mingyu climbed into the driver's seat, and Jeonghan climbed into the passenger seat.

"Do you want anything else?" Mingyu asked, eyeing the fast food places around. Jeonghan shook his tired head, leaned against the window and closed his eyes. Mingyu looked at him for a moment-- just a moment with his expression blank, feeling nothing; and then he smiled, and he took note of Jeonghan's tousled hair and baggy eyes and he thought perhaps Jeonghan wasn't really upset, just really stressed out.

That made Mingyu want to drive a little more.

2 a.m., Jeonghan fell asleep, and Mingyu continued to drive around. He rolled up the window and turned up the heat. He tucked his jacket around Jeonghan's shoulders and drove and drove and drove; and Jeonghan woke up and hour later with a cramp in his neck but a smile in his expression. He slipped his arms through Mingyu's jacket and asked, "Still driving?" and Mingyu shrugged, "You were still sleeping," and Jeonghan gave a little laugh, "You could have woken me," but Mingyu shook his head, "I wanted to drive."


	2. Chan/Jihoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It reminded me of you.

Ever since their appearance on the Yang and Nam Show, Jihoon felt pressure to become closer to Chan. He didn't make much of an effort at first, but after seeing Mingyu's genuine attempts at getting closer to Jeonghan, and Wonwoo's attempts at becoming less of a severe introvert (especially off camera), Jihoon felt like he needed to step up-- push past the awkwardness, and the ways in which he and Chan didn't match. He started off by spending more time with Chan in everyday situations-- sitting next to him in the car, taking over Jeonghan's normal job of seeing what everyone wanted in order to talk to the younger a little bit. He felt refreshed, being closer to Chan. Chan was a charming person; he was bright and happy and Jihoon liked his company, and his tolerance for the dumb things Jihoon often took out on him (though, Chan had always had a tolerance for Jihoon).

One day, Jihoon knocked on Chan's door-- feeling bolder. Chan looked surprised to see Jihoon, but then happy when Jihoon asked, "Do you want to come to the store with me?" He was more than happy to agree-- to throw his shoes on and follow Jihoon outside. They walked-- a simple, quick walk down the block, and then they were at the store. Jihoon let Chan lead the way, as Chan seemed happy to be in the store, happy to bounce around and look at all the junk foods and toys. He was really just happy to be out of the dorm on a free day; he didn't often get to go anywhere with the members. (It was sweet, Jihoon thought, that Chan was ecstatic just to go to the store with the member that he was most distant from.)

"If you want anything, you can get it," Jihoon told him. Chan looked back at him with a smile-- shock at first, and then a very bright expression. He thanked Jihoon more times than Jihoon could count-- and then he ran all over the store, looking for something to buy. He came to a stop by a shelf of stuffed animals, and he lifted himself to the tips of his toes to reach a tiny pink teddy bear on the top. It was holding a little orange heart, and it had a simple smile on its face. It looked like a Valentine's Day teddy bear, but there was no cheesy love message to suggest it was. Perhaps it was nothing special.

"I want this, hyung. Please," Chan said. Jihoon nodded, "Is that all?" and Chan nodded back. Strange, Jihoon thought, because he figured Chan would want something to eat or perhaps another present, but Chan was clearly pretty set on his teddy bear-- already dragging Jihoon to the cash register. Jihoon flipped out his wallet and paid for the (very cheap) toy, and he held onto Chan's hand as the younger reached for him, leading him out of the store.

"Why did you want that, Dino?" Jihoon inquired, tucking his wallet back into his pocket. They were out of the store, two minutes from home. Chan was very infatuated with his little teddy bear, holding it tightly in his palm and bumping it against his nose. He held the teddy bear away from his face so that Jihoon could see, too, and he shrugged through his answer, "It reminded me of you."

Jihoon could see the resemblance: small. pink hair. cute--even though Jihoon wasn't cute! A smile came to Jihoon's lips, a flutter to his heart. Chan brought the teddy bear back to his nose to tap it against the fur, nuzzle into it. Jihoon had a brief though of Chan nuzzling into him like that, and his heart went soft as he thought about the fact that perhaps Chan wanted to do that.

(Jihoon had another thought of _when did I become so soft for Chan?_  because he wasn't even this soft for Seungcheol-- though, Seungcheol wasn't as cute as Chan, either. Jihoon wrote it off as he'd fallen for Chan's charm, and he left it at that.)


	3. Jihoon/Jisoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, no, it's my treat.

Jihoon pulled his hood over his head and rubbed his sleeves over his eyes. He pressed a bit too hard, bringing a dull pain to his eyes when he looked at them again, but he didn't mind. He was stressed; his head already hurt. He gathered his wallet and his heavy heart and started outside, throwing his shoes on as he went. He nearly bumped straight into someone as he was pulling his left shoe over his heel. He made a surprised noise, looked up to see who it was as he was bending in apology. Being in the company, he assumed he'd bumped into one of the staff members. He was especially surprised to see Jisoo standing there, also bending. The two laughed upon seeing each other-- Jisoo more than Jihoon, considering the amount of stress behind Jihoon's headache.

"What are you doing here, hyung?" Jihoon asked. He straightened, and he dug his hands into his pockets. Jisoo shrugged, "I just came here to practice a little more. I thought you went home already."

"No--working myself to death again," Jihoon muttered. He rubbed his eye again. Jisoo laughed a bit-- just a bit, because he knew the humor, but he also knew the seriousness. He didn't have time to think of a reply, not even whether or not it should be serious or humorous, because Jihoon was speaking, "Do you want to get something to eat with me, hyung? I'm kind of starving-- haven't eaten since lunch."

"I-- I forgot my wallet-- I can run to the dorm and get it real quick--" Jisoo started, hoping the rush of his statement told Jihoon that he did want to go; he really wasn't trying to create an excuse. Things had changed, because, yes, before, he'd find any excuse to not be alone with Jihoon, but, really, things had changed-- _things had changed_. Jihoon cut off Jisoo's panicked words and thoughts, "No, no, it's my treat. Let's go, hyung."

Jihoon didn't give Jisoo any room for protest. He began to walk away, forcing Jisoo to walk in the same direction, to catch up with him. He thought about pushing the wallet issue, thought about convincing Jihoon to let him run back to the dorm and grab it, but Jihoon clearly wanted to spend time with Jisoo _now_ , and he was clearly hungry _now_ , and Jisoo would hate himself if he ruined another chance at getting closer to Lee Jihoon.


	4. Mingyu/Hansol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Come here. Let me fix it.

Hansol tugged at the small curls that had made a reappearance in his hair and sighed softly. It was half impossible to get all the curls to go away. Naturally, his hair was wavy, but recently-- perhaps in rebellion to all the dyeing and straightening and styling-- his hair had started to curl more and more. Hansol spent a few hours the night before trying to flatten the curls out-- borrowing Jeonghan's flat iron and hair dryer to catch the curls right out of the shower. The attempt was mostly fruitless, Hansol could tell, as he stared at the curls in the hall mirror and sighed.

"Hansol!" Mingyu called from the other end of the hall. Hansol turned, his eyes wide and startled at the sudden call of his name. Mingyu waved him over-- must have sensed the frustration Hansol felt with his hair, "Come here. Let me fix it."

Hansol followed Mingyu's little command. Mingyu let him to the bathroom and spent half an hour straightening out the little curls on Hansol's head. He brushed them out, used Jeonghan's flat iron, added a little bit of product that Hansol had never seen before. It was white and it smelled like lilac; and Mingyu clapped his satisfied hands together, "Perfect."

"It looks really good, hyung. You never lost your touch." Hansol said. Mingyu had always been particularly good with fixing people's hair-- and other little things, like cooking and sewing buttons onto clothes. He had a lot of extremely convenient knowledge and skill that Hansol wished he could learn (and _could_ , really, if he would just ask).

"I'll never lose my touch." Mingyu said, smirking. He tapped Hansol's shoulder as he reached over to unplug the straightener, "Now let's go. Seungcheol-hyung is going to be mad if we're late again-- and I'm going to be mad if you put a hat on, Vernon, so don't you dare."


	5. Wonwoo/Chan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll walk you home.

Chan stood at the entrance of Pledis' building and wondered what he should do. He was too scared to walk home alone, and there was no one in the company that wasn't too busy to drive him. He didn't want to call anyone at the dorm, for they were likely already resting. He thought perhaps he could risk calling Hansol and have him come down, but he was forced to remember that Hansol-- as well at the other hip-hop team members-- were still in the building, too, only they were the kind of busy that Chan wouldn't dare to interrupt, no matter what the emergency. They were upstairs recording and likely practicing, too. So Chan was stuck in the building perhaps until the hip-hop team members finished up, or until he found the bravery to step outside and face the darkness.

Chan was playing with the strap of his bag when a voice came from behind him, "What are you doing here, Dino?" and he nearly jumped straight into the glass door. He whipped around, narrowly missing Wonwoo with the quick swing of his bag. Wonwoo laughed at the shocked way Chan reacted to him, "You okay?"

"S-sorry, hyung. I didn't expect you to be here-- aren't you recording?" Chan asked. Wonwoo shrugged, "Yeah. But I told them I needed a bathroom break-- really just wanted to walk a bit. What's up? Why are you still here?"

"Oh. Well, uh-- well--" Chan pointed outside, and he thought about coming up with some excuse, perhaps _I was just getting back to practicing_ , but that was a lie and he already had his bag packed up. He hated to lie to anyone, no matter how stupid the truth made him look, so he buckled down and decided to look stupid in front of Wonwoo, "I-I was scared to, uh, walk home... by myself."

"I'll walk you home." Wonwoo said. He started for the door right away, gesturing for Chan to follow him. Chan didn't have any time to protest-- he scrambled outside after Wonwoo and said "Wait-- wait, hyung, you're too busy--" but Wonwoo laughed, hooked an arm over Chan's shoulder and asked, "Do I look busy to you?"

Chan couldn't exactly tell him _yes_ , so he silently walked home with Wonwoo, listened to him talk about recording and how good the new hip-hop team song sounded, how Chan should join them in rapping one day because his voice would sound really, really good with the recent songs they were coming out with. Chan told Wonwoo his voice sounded a little too much like Hansol's sometimes for him to be a part of a hip-hop team song and not throw off the balance. Wonwoo told him they could work that out.

Wonwoo dropped Chan off at the dorm but didn't escape before he was hugged-- tight and happy and told "Thank you" with a slightly emotional voice-- just _slightly_ , because Chan was really, really touched by what Wonwoo had done for him but he wasn't going to get sappy about it-- not with Wonwoo. Wonwoo pet his head and told him "No problem, Channie. But I've got to go now, okay-- before I get in trouble," and Chan let him go, and waved him goodbye, and told him "Good luck!" and Wonwoo waved back, told him "Get some rest!"


	6. SVT/OT13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have a good day at work.

"Have a good day at work!" Jihoon watched Seungcheol break away from a big hug with Soonyoung with amusement, both at the excited way he waved at Soonyoung and his words. Jihoon turned to Seungcheol, who he was just about to say goodbye to, and repeated the words, "Have a good day at work."

Seungcheol chuckled. He hugged Jihoon goodbye and wished him luck with the vocal team members and the new song. Seungcheol tapped Wonwoo on the back as the younger was heading toward Jihoon, briefly telling him "Have a good day at work--" and Jihoon watched, amused, as Wonwoo's steps slowed, lingering stare on Seungcheol; and then he turned to Jihoon, nodded his head, told him "Have a good day at work," and walked through the door to Jihoon's right.

Jihoon walked into the room at the end of the hall with a smile on his face, still amused by the _Have a good day at work_  that was floating around the group. He opened the door and nearly bumped into Junhui, who was squeezing Jisoo's fingers as he slipped out of the room and told him "Have a good day at work, hyung!" and then he stopped short, pat Jihoon's shoulder, and laughed out "Have a good day at work!"

"Who started that?" Jeonghan wondered, tapping a pencil against his knee. Jisoo asked, "Started what?" and Jeonghan gestured to Junhui's disappeared form, "'Have a good day at work'."

"I'm thinking Soonyoung. Again." Jisoo said. Jihoon shook his head, gestured, "Seokmin, this time."

"Seungkwan told me first." Seokmin said, and then Seungkwan held up his hands, "Hansol said it to me first."

"It was probably Dino." Jihoon said, and the rest of them agreed, "It was probably Dino."


	7. Hansol (Centric)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dreamt about you last night.

The first time someone said "I dreamt about you last night" to Hansol, Hansol believed him. It was Chan and they were laying together, barely five o'clock in the morning. Hansol woke up early, stretched, and accidentally elbowed Chan because he had no idea Chan had crawled into bed with him. Chan just pet Hansol's head when Hansol apologized-- and apologized and apologized, and he told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night."

He told Hansol of the dream he'd had, where the two were young and best friend, playing on the swings and talking about going to Pledis together. Chan mentioned that the dream was an actual memory but the little boy he'd been talking to had been replaced by Hansol instead-- because Chan swore that boy would be his best friend for the rest of time, but he was now sure it was Hansol instead.

The second time someone said "I dream about you last night," to Hansol, Hansol believed him, too. It was Seokmin this time and he brought it up in passing, when the two had gone for a water bottle and Seokmin just started laughing when their hands collided. He told Hansol he had a dream like this about the boy, how the two had gone for something-- he couldn't remember what-- at the same time and had actually begun to wrestle over it. Hansol laughed and let Seokmin have the water bottle, telling him "I'm too tired to wrestle right now--" and Seokmin laughed along.

The third time someone said "I dreamt about you last night," he was starting to think his friends were just messing with him. He'd had no reason to not believe that the dreams were real, apart from the fact that it happened so often. In the spam of five days, three of his members had dreams about him-- really random dreams, like wrestling and the one Seungkwan told him about him and Hansol buying too much at the grocery store and getting scolded by Seungcheol.

The fourth time someone said "I dreamt about you last night," it was Jeonghan and Hansol _swore_  it was just a trend that Jeonghan had caught onto. Jeonghan went into an intricate story about how he and Hansol had gone on vacation together and gotten lost. They were in Japan, and they had learned some Japanese, but not enough to get around well. They managed, but they got lost, and Seungcheol got angry because apparently they had run off, just the two of them, with no warning, but they had no intention of leaving Seventeen, either. (Hansol wondered why Seungcheol got mad at him so often in dreams.)

No one could convince Hansol the fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth times were coincidences. When Minghao told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," and recounted the two of them dancing together, Hansol kind of believed him, but he was seriously wondering who started the prank. When Junhui told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," and recounted a similar instance of the two of them dancing together, Hansol knew it wasn't just a coincidence-- but wasn't Junhui smarted than to copy a dream for a prank? After a moment's thinking, Hansol decided that no, it wasn't that he wasn't smart, it's that he wasn't big on pranks and would rather just copy and paste a silly stunt. When Seungcheol told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," and told Hansol he'd gotten angry at him for something, Hansol really started to wonder what it was about dream him that made Seungcheol so angry. When Jisoo said "I dreamt about you last night," Hansol was pretty shocked, because Jisoo wasn't big on pranks, and he told Hansol all about their dream trip back to America where they visited Los Angeles and New York and had way too much fun speaking English again.

Soonyoung brought it up the ninth time, only he was still half-asleep when he told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," and Hansol wasn't entirely sure if he meant the dream he'd just woken from or the dream he had twenty four hours before-- perhaps twenty five or twenty six, because it was four in the morning and Hansol doubted if Soonyoung had fallen asleep at four in the morning the day before. Soonyoung muttered about Hansol having pink hair and joining the performance team, and Hansol thought he was really dedicated to this prank if he could remember it even when he was almost asleep.

Jihoon told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," and Hansol decided to just out and wonder-- "Why are you guys playing this prank on me?" and Jihoon raised an eyebrow, "Prank? What prank?" and it wasn't like Jihoon to lie, so maybe he was the only of the ten, so far, that actually had a dream about Hansol. Hansol said "Nevermind, hyung-- what was the dream about?" and let Jihoon recount the dream-- him and Hansol running around on music notes and talking about something deep at the same time. Strange.

Mingyu told Hansol "I dreamt about you last night" next, and Hansol confronted him, too-- "Why are you guys playing this prank on me?" and Mingyu, too, asked "What prank?" but he would pretend not to know to get away with it, so Hansol interrogated him further, "These dreams about me. In the past month, everyone has had a dream about me except-- except for Wonwoo-hyung, I think. I just-- why? Why did you guys decide to prank me?"

"We're not pranking you, though. I didn't know the others had dreams about you, too." Mingyu said. He wouldn't lie at this point, when the whole prank was on the table, so Hansol let his shoulders fall, and he told Mingyu, "O-okay... what was your dream about?" and Mingyu told him; it was about the entire unit, the rappers, but Hansol for the most part, because it was Hansol's birthday and the four of them were celebrating together while the vocals did something with Seokmin. Mingyu didn't go into too much detail, because he said the day was extremely special and cool and he wanted to actually plan it out for Hansol.

When it came Wonwoo's turn to tell Hansol "I dreamt about you last night," Hansol didn't interrupt until the end-- after the story of a lake and rough currents and Hansol pulling Wonwoo from the water. Hansol wondered, when his dream was all over, "All the members have had dreams about me lately... I can't figure out why," and Wonwoo shrugged, slid an arm over Hansol's shoulder, "We must all love you a lot, Vernon."


	8. Seungcheol/Mingyu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take my seat.

Mingyu rushed, late, into a meeting and regretted it right away. The door swung shut quietly behind him, but he knew if he tried to open it again and sneak out, it wasn't going to be quiet. His members were already there, because they were on time, but there were no seats left. Whether the company had miscalculated or they had simply taken Mingyu's chair because he was late, Mingyu had no idea. But he stood there for a few moments, no one having noticed him, and wondered what to do. He didn't want to interrupt; he kind of just wanted to blend with the members and know what was going on. Easy, right?

Wrong. Mingyu was all leg and no balance. He crouched and began to carefully waddle toward the table-- only to topple onto his hands and knees. His hands made a loud _splat!_  against the ground, but not loud enough to interrupt the speaker. Minghao heard, though, and he turned, and he gently laughed-- covered it with his palm and turned away from Mingyu again so as to not appear distracted. Mingyu glared at the back of Minghao's head-- _thanks for the help, you_ \-- but what was he supposed to do, anyway? Mingyu carefully pushed himself back to his feet and continued to crawl until he was at the table, crouched between Seungcheol and Jisoo. Jisoo didn't notice him, but Seungcheol did. He peeked to his left and almost jumped-- almost, but he laughed instead-- silent and amused. Mingyu was grateful Seungcheol didn't look angry.

"Take my seat." Seungcheol said suddenly, quietly rolling his chair out and stepping out of it. Mingyu looked at Seungcheol with big eyes, whispering "What? No, hyung--" but Jisoo tapped on his shoulder and gently told him to quiet down, and Seungcheol was already behind the chair, holding it as if he'd pulled it out just for Mingyu, and Mingyu clambered into the seat-- not at all smoothly or quietly. The speaker looked, eyed Mingyu for a second, but then ignored him altogether-- and he didn't stop speaking the whole time. Some snickers were heard but they went professional again in no time; and Seungcheol gently wheeled Mingyu's chair into the table and kept his hands on the top, occasionally reaching across to tap Mingyu's shoulders just to do something with his hands.

"Any questions?" and questions were asked and answer were given; and Mingyu tilted his head back and said "Thank you, Cheol-hyung," and Seungcheol just nodded, petting Mingyu's forehead softly.


	9. Jisoo/Soonyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saved a piece for you.

It was Jisoo's birthday, and only the vocal team could celebrate with him. The hip-hop team was off on some show that Pledis decided to send them on a week before-- they video called in the morning just to tell Jisoo to have a good day. The performance team was stuck practicing _all day long_ \-- new comeback, choreography to do, and the rest of his team refused to leave Soonyoung on his own. It was a bit regrettable, that no one else could be there, but only because the celebration was so fun. They did a little V Live, just the vocal unit. They played some games and pay a little too much attention to Jisoo-- got him a big, big cake and proceeded to smash half of it onto his face. One cake fight later, and they decided to wrap up, promising the fans they had a smaller cake a home-- chocolate instead of strawberry-- and ice cream, and they would eat lots and have even more fun. Jisoo made his fans promise that they would get something sweet, too, because they had to treat themselves on his birthday, okay?

Jisoo escaped into the practice room with the one piece of cake had had managed to save. He placed it on a plate and tucked it away without anyone really noticing-- in the wreck of cleaning the cake up and laughing and making sure the camera was okay. Jisoo cleaned himself off as best as he could so that he didn't dirty the practice room floor. He peeked in, saw the members on break, and took that as his chance to walk in. The members greeted him right away; Chan and Jun even ran over to hug him despite his cakey state. Jisoo thanked them for the birthday wishes and told them he had fun; and they softly revealed they'd been watching the V Live but didn't want to join in case they got in trouble for doing so. _How sweet_ , Jisoo thought, and he pat Chan's head and told them it was okay. He fed Junhui some of the whipped cream that remained on his nose and handed him the soda, asking him to distribute it to the members. There was coke, sprite, something strawberry and something orange. Junhui claimed the coke and left everyone to get what they wanted-- good enough, Jisoo supposed.

Meanwhile, Jisoo made his way to Soonyoung with the piece of cake. It was strawberry; Soonyoung was one of the only people in the group who genuinely enjoyed strawberry cake. Seokmin and Seungkwan also liked the fruity flavor of batter, but they had already gotten their taste-- and a little more.

"Happy birthday, hyung." Soonyoung said, hooking one arm around Jisoo's shoulder and pulling him in for a hug. He hadn't yet greeted Jisoo up close-- had stayed behind, by the counter, and gotten himself a bottle of water. He was sweating, so Jisoo assumed he had just started his break. He told Soonyoung thank you before presenting the cake. Soonyoung raised an eyebrow, "Huh-- where did you get that?"

"It's the last of my cake. I saved a piece for you." Jisoo said. Soonyoung's smile brightened, and he took the cake from Jisoo-- and then he hugged him again, happily exclaiming "I love strawberry cake!" and Jisoo laughed, pat Soonyoung's back, "Well, enjoy it. Barely anyone actually got to _eat_  the cake."

"I can tell. You're covered in it." Soonyoung said. He leaned back and looked at his hand, which had just as much whipped cream and frosting as the crook of his neck did, but Soonyoung didn't seem to mind. He just smiled at Jisoo and dug into his cake when the older male presented him with a fork, as well.


	10. Minghao/Jihoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for your loss.

Jihoon stared at the wet piece of paper at his feet for a long, long time. He knew it was a stupid idea to go to the company today. He knew he should have just stayed inside with his notebook and his headphones and written his lyrics there. No matter how hard it was for Jihoon to focus on lyric writing while listening to music, and no matter how loud the dorm was, he should have dealt with it. He should have known something stupid like this was going to happen-- should have known the wind would push some papers from his arm and send them tumbling into the puddles that the rain created. He should have known.

"Hyung," Minghao popped up beside Jihoon. He'd fallen behind a few seconds ago as they neared the building; Jihoon pushed forward to get there quicker, because the rain was in his face, and Minghao wasn't as quick as he was. But here he was, now, and he stopped where Jihoon was stopped and he looked down at the paper in the water and he just stared, just like Jihoon. Jihoon was glad it was Minghao that had wanted to tag along-- walk with him to the company building because he wanted to sit in the practice room and ponder and probably practice. He was glad because Minghao wasn't explosive when it came to emotions; he was glad because Minghao's silence was as numb as Jihoon's feelings.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Minghao said eventually, looking to Jihoon. Jihoon almost laughed at the comment-- _almost_. It wasn't particularly funny, and probably could have pushed Jihoon to tears, but it was Minghao he was talking to and Minghao's accent and his voice were a beautiful combination that pushed Jihoon past numbness in an optimistic way rather than a pessimistic one. It was just funny, kind of, because he was so monotone about his apology, like he was sorry but didn't know how to say it, like he knew it wasn't a big deal and Jihoon shouldn't be thinking it was.

"I--" Jihoon shrugged it off, a chuckle finally leaving his lips, "I wasn't too fond of it anyway."

"It would have been a hit." Minghao shrugged. He looped an arm over Jihoon's shoulders, and they began to walk, leaving the soaked paper behind, "But so will the next one you're going to write, and the one after that, and after that. All your songs are hits, hyung."

Jihoon smiled again.


	11. Wonwoo/Minghao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can have half.

"You alright?" Wonwoo's voice was quiet-- discreet, as to not draw attention. To any of the other members, it looked like Wonwoo had just sat next to a half-asleep Minghao and started to pet his head out of habit. They all did that to one another, especially Wonwoo, because he often didn't speak and opted to touch instead-- play with fingers or loop his arm through someone else's. To everyone else, Wonwoo and Minghao looked like a gentle morning.

To Wonwoo, however, he felt concerned; and Minghao felt the concern, too. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Wonwoo-- Wonwoo, who had a breakfast bar and a concerned expression. Minghao eyed the breakfast bar and felt his stomach kick him for skipping breakfast. Today was the one day he had ever done it-- woke up too late, helped Jihoon instead of making himself something to eat. It was stupid, because he definitely could have helped Jihoon five minutes later, as he was eating, but he chose not to. _Stupid_.

"I didn't eat breakfast this morning." Minghao muttered, looking away from Wonwoo's breakfast bar-- and Wonwoo entirely. He hoped Wonwoo wouldn't have caught the glance, wouldn't have tried to share the small breakfast, but his hope was crushed when he heard the crinkle of a wrapper and then saw the breakfast bar just a few inches from his face. Minghao looked up at him. Wonwoo smiled, "Eat."

"It's yours, hyung." Minghao said, pushing the bar away softly. Wonwoo pursed his lips, and then he started to unwrap his breakfast. Minghao watched him, wondering if he would listen, what he was doing. Wonwoo broke the bar in half, "It's ours. You can have half."

Minghao couldn't help but take it this time, smiling at Wonwoo's words, at his tone, at his expression. It was all concerned and soft; sweet and smiley, and Minghao appreciated it. He bit into the bar-- the taste of artificial strawberry and maple coming to him all at once. It was good-- even better because he knew Wonwoo was tasting the same thing. (Wonwoo did seem to enjoy the flavor a lot more than Minghao, though.)


	12. Seokmin/Seungkwan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take my jacket, it's cold outside.

"Hyung, I'm going to walk home now, okay?" Seungkwan called for Seokmin's attention, hardly making sure he had it before finishing his statement. Seokmin was looking at his phone-- elbows on the table, very concentrated on something. His eyebrows were furrowed, but Seungkwan could tell his concern wasn't negative. If anything, he was reading something that interested him, and his focus was extreme. However, he still managed to respond to Seungkwan-- without taking his eyes off of his current object of interest-- "Okay."

Seungkwan started off-- then, "Wait. Take my jacket, it's cold outside."

It had started to rain in their time at the Pledis building, the temperature dropping with the addition of moisture in the sky. Seungkwan hadn't bothered taking a jacket, as it had been relatively warm that morning and he expected and even warmer afternoon. Seokmin, however, always took a jacket with him-- just in case, and he held it out for Seungkwan to take with him.

"What? But you have to walk home too, hyung." Seungkwan said, not moving from his spot--halfway to the door. Seokmin shrugged, "I'll survive. Take my jacket."

Seungkwan didn't want to argue with Seokmin, and he didn't want to leave disobeying Seokmin, so he took the jacket-- and he hugged Seokmin after he'd put it on, "Thank you, hyung."

Seokmin rubbed Seungkwan's back briefly, "I'll see you back at the dorm."

"Don't get sick, okay?" Seungkwan asked, making Seokmin promise before he left, hoping Seokmin wouldn't get sick because of the rain. (Maybe he could convince their manager to drive Seokmin home.)


	13. Jihoon/Seokmin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late.

Seokmin fiddled with Jihoon's pens and pencils, whistling to himself, blowing raspberries into the open air. He tapped his foot; he scribbled some words in the back of Jihoon's notebook. He played music with one earphone out; he skipped half of the songs in his playlist. He rocked his head side to side; he hummed along to his favorite song. He checked the time on his watch; he waited for Jihoon, and tried not to think about impatience in the mist of his boredom.

"Hi! I'm here--" Jihoon started, flying through the door of his office-- scaring the daylights out of Seokmin, who knocked over his phone as he jolted away from the desk. Jihoon was a mess of over-sized clothes and messy notebooks. His hair was a mess, even; Jihoon settled in the seat next to Seokmin, who had just picked up his (thankfully not cracked) phone. He smiled, and he said, "Sorry I'm late," and he flipped through his notebook to get to the page he wanted to be on.

"It's okay." Seokmin said quietly, his boredom flying from him immediately. (Seokmin didn't like to be alone.)

"Okay, lyrics. Show me what you have," Jihoon said. He had promised to help Seokmin with some lyrics he'd written-- almost an entire song, he thought; perfect for the vocal team, and the hip-hop team, if they wanted to write some lyrics-- at which point Seokmin and Jihoon could work together to weave the performance team equally into the song, as well.

"Thank you for helping me," Seokmin said as he handed over his lyrics, and Jihoon smiled, and pet his head once, and told him "Thank you for waiting for me."


	14. Junhui/Minghao

Junhui scrolled aimlessly through his phone, looking for some music to energize him. He knew it wasn't necessary, given that he-- and the rest of the performance team-- were taking a break from practice. In fact, Soonyoung and Chan had left a few minutes ago to pick up something for lunch from the shop across the street. However, Junhui felt like he was wasting time-- laying on the (uncomfortable) floor of the practice room. He wasn't even talking to Minghao-- their attempts to catch their breath had gotten the best of them, and now, despite their bodies being less tired, their minds were focused in on their phones. They were close-- Minghao had his head on Junhui's stomach, but neither spoke.

Junhui accidentally clicked on a song as he was scrolling through his list of them. The music blasted out-- soft piano tones filling in the silence of the practice room. Minghao jolted at the sudden noise, and laughed when he realized what it was. Junhui, too, laughed, and said "I'm sorry," tapping his stomach for Minghao to settle against. He had an idea, though; instead of looking for an excitable song, Junhui thought-- why not get up and dance to this one?

Before Minghao could lay down again, Junhui got to his feet. Minghao's gaze followed him, his head tilting up in curiosity. Junhui tucked his phone into his back pocket, and held his hand out for Minghao, "Can I have this dance?"

"Hyung," Minghao laughed. He lay his hand in Junhui's and allowed Junhui to help him stand. Junhui pulled Minghao to him right away, to which Minghao laughed-- in shock-- and said "Hyung!--" and Junhui didn't let him continue before he was dancing with Minghao-- spinning him under his arm, spinning him gently around his body.

"We're on break, you know." Soonyoung's voice cut into the gently music-- covering up the last note. He didn't quite interrupt Junhui and Minghao's dance; they stood together in the end, with hands held and smiles on. They moved away from each other at Soonyoung and Chan's entrance, laughing. Junhui mentioned, "We love dancing," with a shrug. Soonyoung was amused, but didn't further comment. Chan said, "Come eat, hyungs," moving to put the food on the counter. Soonyoung followed him immediately, while Junhui and Minghao fell a beat behind-- for Junhui wrapped an arm around Minghao's waist, and walked with him.

 

14. "Can I have this dance?"


	15. Chan/Soonyoung

Soonyoung was _almost_  tired enough to skip getting something for dinner and going straight home, except he remembered Chan's arrival an hour prior, and how he told Soonyoung he was going to go home about an hour after Soonyoung had planned, and he had a better idea.

There was a convenient store around the block that Soonyoung and his members frequented when they wanted snacks or drinks. Soonyoung took a short walk there with the few bills he had in his pocket to buy two bowls of soy-based ramen, and a large bottle of water. He didn't have enough for drinks, but he thought if he prepared the ramen and threw the rest of the water in the freezer while it was heating, he and Chan would have something to drink.

Soonyoung took his time getting back--in fact, took an extra lap around the block the opposite way to give Chan time to finish practicing, knowing he didn't want to interrupt the younger man in the midst. He had twenty minutes-- approximately-- by the time he returned to the company, and he set off to prepare. He followed the steps to the fourth floor, poured water in both bowls of ramen (after, of course, removing the packets), and set them in the microwave to soften the noodles. He added the spice he always carried around in his bag, because they were good to sprinkle on the tongue when he got too tired, or when he was hungry and had no other substitute. He threw the water in the freezer-- a minute or two later than he wished he'd remembered, but it didn't matter. He took his time stirring the noodles, adding the spice, putting the bowls back in the microwave. He packed the somewhat cold water in his bag and carefully carried the bowls of ramen downstairs, where he knew Chan was dancing.

Chan, luckily, had the music off when Soonyoung entered the room. He was stretching, but it was clear from the sweat on his forehead that he had been dancing for some time. Chan saw Soonyoung through the mirror, and waved to him, "Hi, hyung!"

He turned around, and noticed the ramen, and wondered, "You made ramen?"

"I made your favorite." Soonyoung said, extending his arm to hand a bowl to Chan. Chan smiled brightly, crossed the room to take the ramen, and to hug Soonyoung. He said, "Thank you, hyung," and gestured for him to come sit by the wall, where his phone was plugged in, charging. Soonyoung pulled the decently cold water from his bag, and they ate and drank together, talking briefly about what each of them were working on individually--though they _were_  silent most of the time. They didn't really talk while they ate; instead, they sat in a comfortable silence, and enjoyed each other's company.

 

 

 

15. "I made your favorite."


End file.
